A second-half one-two punch combo by the Warriors halves have got their NRL season back on track, paving the way for a 30-8 win over the Dolphins in Auckland.
Shaun Johnson continued his fine form by scoring the second of his two tries in the 53rd minute, unlocking some committed defence with a jinking run that harked back to his days as a hot-stepping youngster.
"It was the turning point because we’d been hammering away at it," Warriors coach Andrew Webster said.
"Mitch Barnett got held up, there were a few more missed opportunities. But it took Shaun to step and show everyone how to put the ball over the line. I’m sure he’ll remind us of that all week, but that was the moment that changed it."
Then, directly from the restart, Luke Metcalf was on hand to take a pass from a Marata Niukore linebreak, racing 40 metres to score under the posts for 18-4.
Up until then, it had been a low-scoring but entertaining game, with both teams throwing the ball around in front of a 23,000-strong crowd at Mt Smart Stadium.
The Dolphins were missing Queensland Origin duo Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Tom Gilbert plus the suspended Felise Kaufusi, and had to scratch hooker Jeremy Marshall-King late due to injury.
Johnson got the hosts off to a perfect start, stepping his way through under the posts in only the fifth minute.
The Dolphins had precious little attacking opportunities in the first half, but they made one count just before the break when Tesi Niu latched onto a looping pass from Kodi Nikorima to score in the corner.
Johnson and Metcalf’s tries shot the home side out to a lead they were never going to relinquish.
"He was unbelievable," Webster said of Johnson.
"I thought he was composed and Wayde (Egan)’s deception around the ruck just left him to worry about different patches of the grass and when he saw the opportunity he could take them."
Veteran winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak picked off a pass from Isiaya Katoa to race half the length of the field for his second try after the break and put an exclamation point on a much-needed win for the Warriors, before Jamayne Isaac grabbed a consolation try for the Dolphins.
It was the Warriors’ largest win of the season, which came off the back of a disappointing loss to Brisbane last weekend and moved them ahead of the Dolphins into seventh on the ladder.
"I thought we learned from last week," Webster added.
"We had so many opportunities to score and didn’t. There were certainly a few things in that first half we could have executed better, but that was the message at halftime. While we were frustrated we didn’t ice those opportunities, tonight we wanted to grind them into the ground and our defence did that in the second half."
Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett lamented the fact that Johnson has turned the clock back form wise.
"He’s been a long time in the NRL, and he’s had a lot of moods," he said.
"But he’s always been a quality player, he seems happy here right now and obviously enjoying his football.
"To our credit, we never stopped trying.
"The thing I know as a coach is that if you haven’t got a team that’s putting in effort, you’re in trouble. We can fix the execution part, but this team tries every week."
